Autumn's Warden
The side of the cliff was beginning to take shape. No longer was it merely a cliff side, it was now a fortress on the eve of completion. Dwarfs and men alike hung side by side from thick hempen ropes to mold the cliff face with iron and wood; their efforts were a daily grind against the winds of the Sea and the perilous rocks bellow but they still they toiled on. Jerviss breathed in the fresh smell of construction as he walked the edge, gazing down over the cliff to see the fruits of his long and arduous labor. His team had been hard at work since the attack on Alesia the previous year and finally things were coming together, even quicker than he originally hoped. Soon these walls would protect the great people of Arn from the evils they so greatly feared. His greatly unkempt beard blew in the wind in a rustle of grey but he seemed not to care. Jerviss' stubby fingers etched a multitude of adjustments into his construction plans. As he turned to go to the Warden's Tower he was met with a head of his construction crew, Koni the Firestone. She was a small dwarf women, even by dwarf standards, and stood with a posture of discomfort. Her thick brown hair fell in multiple braids upon her back and she kept her beard shorn close to her face. However, the work of the last few days showed upon her face, the stubble of a fresh beard sprouted like the charred remains of a burned forest. "Koni." Jerviss addressed her when she met his strides. "Reports." He did not question. "Warden." She responded while fumbling through many loose papers. "Things are progressing quite well below the surface and the men have been keeping pace with our own. You can shave and clean my young Dwarf but you will never be human. ''Jerviss eyed her stubble as she gave the report. "Very well, tis good to see ''men match the pace o' my best builders." He cast a sharp gaze to Koni, "Tell our folk they can move a little quicker now. I bargain a place o' little higher the moderate, see how these Arnish men handle a true challenge." He let out a snort laugh and patted Koni on the shoulder, albeit a little to hard. She stumbled slightly sending a few papers scattering to the wind. "Aye Warden, it will be done." She scurried off to collect her papers and left Jerviss to his checkup. As she hurried off he called out to her to meet in his chambers later that night for a good spell of music. It has been so long since I had a good play. ''Jerviss reflected while approaching the Warden's Tower. Hardly a tower from the outside, most would say. The Warden's Tower stood but a few Human men tall from the ground, only enough to view over the walls that stretched around them, horseshoed to cover all sides. All but the one that ended in a long drop. The building itself shot down through the ground almost to the lowest level of the prison which stood no more than a few moments drop from the sea below. The sea of jagged rocks. From his tower, Jerviss could reach any part of the prison by way of the main spiral staircase. He entered through the man-sized door on the east side of the tower and gazed down the long spiral stairs; the faint light of torches illuminated in a spiral that paralleled the stairs all the way to the bottom. He leaned over the slim rope to look over the edge at the massive drop before making his way down a few flights to his chambers. As he walked he imagined the fall down yet felt no empathy for the prisoners that would soon face that potential drop everyday. His chamber door was of no special make, a simple wooden door cast with iron bars and a heavy lock with a small slot with which he could look out from the inside. ''All my travels have lead me here...here, to create the finest work the south of Lancerus has ever seen. ''Jerviss produced a heavy ring of keys from his belt and sorted through them. The heavy lock clanked and echoed through the great tower signaling to all that the Warden had returned to his chambers. ''No doubt they will be swarmin' for me approval on this or that before long... ''His mind fell to the work ahead as the door slammed shut. He sat down at his desk, cluttered with letters and future plans; he pushed open a clear spot and lay his smoking pipe out with a bag of the finest Arnish leaf. The tobacco burned smooth and strong in his throat before he sent it out his nostrils like dragon's breath. Pulling his notebook close he transferred the progress of the cliff-side cells from his day planner and noted that the remaining, lowest level cells were almost complete. ''Another moon's turn perhaps... The smoke had filled his chamber by the time his quill had stopped and a great sense of pride washed over him. He tapped out his pipe and swapped it out with a thick rich ale. He spilled it carelessly into his mouth and droplets remained specked throughout his beard but he cared not; the smell of it soothed his old heart as much as the taste. Just as the last drops ran dry there was a knock at the door. "Enter!" He bellowed over the brim of his bottle. The door swung open, clearing the room of much of the smoke that had lingered. Koni came forth waving the smoke from her beardless face and was followed by another of Jerviss' construction crew, Bagan, a gruff, grizzled Dwarf from the Saunter Mound with jet black hair and one eye (lost to a goblin in his youth). The two came and took a seat on either side of the table. "Shall we play." Koni asked as she pulled a wooden flute from within her vest. "First we shall drink." Bagan said, pulling the stopper from his wine-skin. Jerviss waved the drink off, "No' for me." Not because of his already drained bottle but because Bagan had an aggravating love of the worst brews in Lancerus. "Ver' well. More fo' me." He drank a heavy gulp before turning to tune his lute. Jerviss smiled, "A moment Koni." He pulled out his pipe for one more smoke before they began. Koni was whistling a small tune on her flute as Jerviss packed his pipe and Bagan drank. Once they were settled Jerviss placed the pipe on the table and reached behind him to grab the hand-horn that hung from the wall. The two others readied their instruments and awaited his lead. Jerviss gripped the horn in one hand and cupped the other inside the bell. With a deep breathe he blew slowly into the mouthpiece and a deep, low note spread and bounced off all corners of the room. Bagan plucked a few singular strings in tune with the low horn and shortly after Koni rang in with the sweet whistle of her flute. The three sounds melded into a chorus of magic; the three had only played a handful of times together but no one would have been able to tell as they played with practiced hands. The horn grew louder and the flute backed it up while the lute strummed to keep the pace. Throughout the Tower music echoed into every chamber, it flew though each corridor and burst through every door. The trio played for what felt like days on end as the music engulfed their bodies. As the end of the tune approached Jerviss broke off into a solo of improvisation, Koni and Bagan both followed him without missing a beat. As they drove to the finale they felt their hearts drop and the sound cut off in an abrupt stop. Koni snapped her flute in half and fell to the ground in shock. Bagan plucked a string so hard it broke and slashed at the fleshy patch of his missing eye. Jerviss gripped his horn so tight that by the time he threw it to the ground it held the shape of his hands imprinted on it. Koni and Bagan looked to each other and then to Jerviss who sat with his hands on the table, a faint look of confusion in his eyes. The look was gone in an instant as he grabbed for his pipe and stoked it, not uncalmly. Koni was the first to speak. "I...I have never..." Bagan patted his eye cut then stood, grabbed a large war-ax from the wall and left without a word. Koni looked to Jerviss who sat in silence and stoked his pipe. "Was that...could it be?" She could not form it into words. Jerviss pulled the pipe from his mouth and blew out another dragon's breath. "Aye." He stoked again and blew an even bigger cloud. "The call...." Category:Character lore